I have this book. Agreed, it’s fabulous.
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Look at a horse grooming tool called a Posture Prep. You could probably use any curry similar but the videos on how to use it and help break up fascia tension is really neat.
My horses all love the tool when I use it as directed. There muscles just seem to melt.
I’m going to order that book you mentioned above. Sounds interesting and a good edition to my shelf.
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Amazingly I was able to order 2 copies through the Walmart on-line site. I suspect that this book might be printed to order, I will have to wait over two weeks to get them as opposed to three days for the last book I ordered from them (an anatomy book, excellent but not “perfect” especially since this anatomy book, “Anatomy Atlas of the Horse” by Swielem, does not have an index.)
Through my life I eventually came to believe in the efficacy of a doctor (MD) “laying his/her hands” on a patient, though nowadays it is mostly the doctor gently probing the problem area. I have mentioned this to doctors who seem to be “born doctors” and they do not immediately dismiss the idea. This is one reason I was attracted to this book, effective “laying of the hands” to cure something? YES, YES, YES. (My grandmother, a MD, was a born doctor. I can usually tell and I feel a lot more confidence with a “born doctor” treating me).
Just because modern medical theory considers an ancient therapy “unproven” leads a lot of doctors to ignore therapies that have been proven efficacious with centuries or even thousands of years of empirical evidence gathered by educated practitioners.
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I did not get my lesson today. It was a combination of things, yesterday afternoon/evening/night we had pretty heavy thunderstorms (we NEED the rain, so yeah!), the ring ended up soggy, and Debbie, when she called this morning, said MJ was pretty stiff. Since I am willing to just ride at a walk she is not worried about me tearing up her footing in a soggy, soggy ring, but for me, well I am stiff too with achy joints. MJ is OLD, I told Debbie I did not think that MJ was up to giving me a good ride, and she agreed.
So DH helped me ride my Home Horse. I did pretty good, I rode for 14 minutes, the first 7 minutes with my feet flat on the platform and the last 7 minutes fiddling with getting my feet in the stirrups and riding with my feet in the stirrups. I know it is 3 minutes than my last two rides on the HH but I was feeling TIRED this morning.
I posted 20 times with my feet on the platform, and later on I posted 20 times with my feet in the stirrups. I did a lot of balancing (I am feeling my core muscles now), 2-point and “walking” too. Today I got more tired balancing at the “halt” than I did “walking” so most of the time I was walking.
Today I did something new with my feet in the stirrups. I got most of the way up into the “vertical far” position, I did not get up far enough to ‘lock’ my knee joints but that can come later. When I did this the HH rocked forward until I was almost on the front rim of the HH. In the future, after getting my balance in vertical far, I will add “walking” while I am in vertical far.
If you all are interested in my horse anatomy meanderings I started a thread, Horse Anatomy, in the Off Course section of this site. I am still plugging away at studying this, it will take me a LONG TIME to learn it all! Then I will be branching off into the horses’ fascia, GULP!
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Sorry you didn’t get your ride in. Hopefully you and MJ will feel better soon!
I’m looking forward to checking out your new thread!
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I am very tired.
I rode my Home Horse for 22 minutes today.
I did sets of posting 20 times two or three times, I did a lot of two point, both with my feet on the platform and with my feet in the stirrups. One time in two point I pretended I was on a horse that was walking, my thighs got very tired doing that.
Shannon told me my side-to-side balance was great after the first minute or so.
And today I lasted longer on the HH than Shannon did.
And right now I just don’t want to move, no pain it is just that I am TIRED.
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Get some good rest!
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I got my riding lesson this morning. After several days of not getting too terribly hot we are back to the 90s F. Of course it was not that hot this morning (low 80s) but it was too hot and muggy for my body to operate well, I was continually leaning to the right unless Debbie brought it to my attention. Except for one really short trot in 2-point I just walked.
MJ was moving so much better today! Gone was the horse who did not want to move at all, today he was willing to move forward freely, in fact he “offered” to trot a few times when he lengthened his stride at the walk. The last time I rode him he simply refused to lengthen his stride, today he did it easily. It was harder to get him to turn to the left, giving me little flinches from his left leg. Trotting to the left he did not limp but Debbie said he did not look too sure with his right front, the side whose knee bothers him. She said the leg flinches to the left might be from his overcompensating for his right knee.
Last weekend Debbie was going to use him in a little show, but that morning he was standing with his right knee bent, telling her that he was not up to it so she put the riders up on another horse. Today she was glad she listened to him because he gave me a much better ride than 2 weeks ago during my previous lesson. He did not need leg, Leg, LEG to get moving out, he proceeded easily around the ring and offered to go faster.
That short trot in 2-point did me in. At 27 minutes into my ride I was ready to STOP and get off, then my body told me it did not want to walk back to the barn in the heat so I rode MJ into the barn. We had 2 minor discussions on the walk back to the barn about him coming to a full halt when I told him to. Apparently his other riders tend to ride him back to the barn without stopping at all but I wanted Debbie to catch up with us before we walked through the barn which was getting busier, besides he was so much into getting back to the barn that he ignored my subtle aids to stop until I gently insisted on a full halt.
When we got up to the front of the barn I finally got off, and I found it hard to dismount, ending up sliding ungracefully off his side while he stood still patiently. I then collapsed while Debbie untacked him, resting until I had enough energy to walk to my mini-van.
I had to take a nap and I am still feeling tired from my ride, but at least I rode a horse today!
I hope it gets cooler soon.
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Congrats on getting a real ride in on a live horse! That’s worth getting tired from – I always think of that as the good type of tired.
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I’m glad you got to ride and MJ was moving better. It was really hot today, I hope we get cooler weather too. Rest up!
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I am STILL tired from riding my Home Horse for just 12 minutes yesterday.
Shannon needed to put in her winter vegetable garden yesterday so my husband helped me. My side-to-side balance is still good, once I get centered.
My 6 minutes with my feet flat on the platform included posting 20 times, and in two sessions I rode 20 strides at the “walk”. I was already tired when I picked up the stirrups.
I then did 2-point, and I did another session of posting for 20 strides. I also tried to circle the HH and for the life of me I could not get anything resembling a circle and the HH was going in all directions under me. This worked my core muscles.
At 12 minutes I was really tired though I was able to dismount without much help. Then I had to take a nap in the afternoon and this morning I overslept for an hour. I am STILL TIRED.
And discouraged.
I guess when I added circling the HH I did too much.
I hope I get to ride MJ this week. It takes so much less energy to ride a real horse than it does to ride my HH.
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Fingers crossed you get to ride MJ this week!
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I got my lesson on MJ today. It was a few degrees cooler, it was a little bit less humid, and I did better.
But this morning my right leg was giving me all sorts of wandering pains that did not feel normal. I debated about riding but figured if there was something “wrong” it would be an excellent idea to get a ride it. This worked, my right leg stopped hurting and it did not mess up my riding.
I even did a posting trot several times today! Debbie had not had to use MJ this past week so he was not hurting and he was ready to go in the stately manner that 30 year old horses go, deliberately. A few times he even suggested that it might be a wonderful idea to go OVER that less than 2’ jump, no MJ. Later Debbie told me that the week before a child rider had not steered him away from a jump in time and that student got the first jump of her riding life. Of course MJ’s legs were not comfortable after that little jump, part of the reason he did not do as well for my last ride on him.
We did our basic stuff, mostly I encouraged him to stretch out his stride. I even dared to keep contact with just the curb bit–he was not totally into it but showed us no signs of distress about it. It has been a while since I dared to try this.
We did pretty well, especially since a TB Make-over mare was being schooled in the ring at the same time. MJ mostly ignored her.
I made it a full thirty minutes today. I was able to walk back to the barn on my own two feet. I did not feel like I was dissolving into a puddle of protoplasm in the saddle.
And my iffy right leg behaved better than usual today staying in place and staying steady.
After riding a horse or my Home Horse I get too tired to really study my anatomy books. I just sit up in bed and play on the computer and read the COTH Forums.
Today I gave Sam, Debbie’s daughter who runs their show program, a copy of “Is Your Horse 100&?” by Magret Henkels. It is a book about how normal riders, with normal strength (or even weak people!) can help fix their horse’s fascia relax from knotting up. I told Sam earlier that even her students (girls and teenage women) should be able to treat their horses by this method. Hey if I could stand steadily for 15 minutes even I could do it. I am also giving Shannon a copy of this book too as well as lending her my copy so that both her and her mother can read it at the same time (her mother has loads of more free time than Shannon, I will get my copy back pretty quickly.)
I am pretty tired right now but it is for a good reason, I rode a real live horse today!
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I’m so glad you had a satisfying ride. It’s such a nice feeling of accomplishment, isn’t it?
Rebecca
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I am so glad to hear you had a good lesson! You are getting quite the library going. Rest up and enjoy your reading.
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I love your thread!! Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so happy that you had a good lesson. 
You’re also an inspiration since I also have an autoimmune disease and I’m scared I’ll have to give up riding. 
Have a good rest.
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Shannon came by today. It was her special rewards day (for being such a wonderful friend!) I gave her "Is Your Horse 100%?"and I lent her my own copy so her mother could read it at the same time.
I also gave her 3 of the Posture Prep cross fiber “grooming” tools, one each of the horse one, the dog one, and the human one. Since her mother is around as old as I am I figure she would appreciate being able to choose the most comfortable one for her small, arthritic hands. I want to ride Cider again but I do not enjoy riding her (or any other horse) when every step at a walk is a flinching step. If Shannon and her mom can do some of the fascia work on Cider I hope that this wonderful mare becomes sounder even if it is just at a walk. I just cannot sit back and relax in the saddle on an ouchy horse, I have to work every single step so I do not block her motion in any way, so I stay balanced and stable, and so I can keep my weight off her back. I get much more tired riding Cider this last year or so as I do riding MJ.
From knowing nothing about the purpose and function of the fascia earlier this year I have morphed into a person who now thinks that the state of a person’s/horse’s/dog’s fascia might be one of the most important things to work on when your horse is NQR or worse. I suspect that after that passed out drunk driver in a big American car plowed head on into my tiny Ford Escort almost 40 years ago if ANY of my doctors then or later had even thought about the state of my fascia I would no longer be hurting from that wreck. 40 years is TOO LONG to have a stiff neck that hurts every morning after all.
I received my Posture Prep tools on Friday. The human one is helping me a lot already. Instead of 2-4 layers of the Far Infra-red Radiation gear on I am staying comfortable with just one layer, and sometimes none at all. Since extra heat for my MS damaged Central Nervous System is literally crippling I am hoping that after several weeks/months of using the Posture Prep thingy that my CNS will improve, that my riding will improve and my stamina will get better since I won’t be wearing all those layers every minute I am not riding a horse or my Home Horse. So far (second full day) the Posture Prep thingy is really improving my life since I am hurting a lot less than I did 3 days ago.
I made it for 17 minutes on the HH, one set of 20 posts with my feet on the platform and another set with my feet in the stirrups. Otherwise I “walked”, normally with my seat in the saddle and also while in 2-point which is pretty hard on my energy levels especially when I do it with my feet in the stirrups. Keeping my lower legs still when my feet are in the stirrups on the HH is HARD. It is so much easier to do when the horse’s barrel is between my legs!
At least my side-to-side balance continues to be pretty good on the HH. I can keep pretty well balanced front-to-back IF I have the saddle in exactly the right place, which is different when my feet are on the platform or in the stirrups. When I pick up my stirrups it the HH starts pitching back and forward, up and down, and is gradually training my body not to freak out when whatever is under my saddle decides to throw in some disruptive grace notes to my ride. I don’t look pretty. I instinctively lean back, on the HH while on horseback I try to keep my body slightly in front of the horse’s motion, but the next time the horse under me decides to crow-hop it should be easier on my to recover my balance since I get to practice this on the HH.
I am sort of excited about the Posture Prep tool. If I can go on wearing less of the FIR gear my nerve conduction will have a chance to improve somewhat. If my nervous system is not working as hard to get signals down my peripheral nerves I will have more energy to actually ride the horse. I do not know if this will work out like I hope it will but I had to try something because I have been getting so darn tired every time I ride, a tiredness that lasts for DAYS. Previously I just stayed really tired for two days at the most, not 4-6 days from each 30 minute ride.
So far the Posture Prep tool has helped my morning stiff/hurting neck and spasm of my scalp muscles better than anything else I’ve tried, plus it does not overheat my CNS. Even if it does no more than help me get rid of my head/neck pain every morning it will be worth every penny I spend on this stuff because nothing else has helped me as much in the past 40 years.
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About 25 years ago, moments after leaving a myofascial release appointment, I was T-boned on the driver’s side, by someone in a whale of a car who failed to stop at a stop sign on a side street. As soon as law enforcement was done with the accident – fortunately a LEO witnessed the entire incident – I turned around and drove back to the therapist, who immediately performed another session.
I credit the fact that I had myofasical release, both before and after, with avoiding serious effects from that collision. My vehicle was totaled.
I’m sorry that you are still suffering from your accident.
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I hate the tired feeling that even a good night’s rest doesn’t fix. It is very good that you are aware of what helps you. Take care!
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I did get my lesson today.
Yesterday I had a completely exhausting day. My cataracts finally got so they interfere with vision. I have been warned for years that I had developing cataracts and that one day they would have to be dealt with. So I went to the eye surgeon, and yes my cataracts are there and getting worse.
I do have insurance, but the cataract surgery I need costs big bucks for me. We are fortunate enough that we should be able to pay for the operations by looting all of our savings and toning down our spending some. The cheaper operation would be fully covered but I have a bad case of astigmatism and if I want to have GOOD eyesight it is going to cost us.
The trip to the eye doctor totally exhausted me and I was still tired this morning. I told Debbie it was walk only today and MJ was ALL into doing as little as possible, he did not even want to extend his walk stride. I have noticed that if I am exhausted that MJ just does not see the necessity of MOVING OUT, even at a walk. His attitude is why bother since we are only going around the ring. He is all into his body reflecting mine when I am TIRED.
I will lose riding condition during all of this. The doctor said not to ride a horse for two weeks after each operation (one eye at a time.) I think that riding my Home Horse will be allowed once the doctor was content that I would not fall off of it, so I may be able to keep some riding fitness.
At least I won’t have to wait six weeks before I ride like I had to when I fell off and cracked two ribs.
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